Home Office

Female Genital Mutilation

Lord Blencathra: To ask Her Majesty’s Government on average how many cases of female genital mutilation are reported to the police for investigation per day.

Lord Blencathra: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to criminalise the failure to report a suspected case of female genital mutilation to the police.

Lord Bates: Information on the number of cases of female genital mutilation (FGM) that are reported to the police for investigation is not collated centrally.The Government has consulted on the introduction of a new mandatory reporting duty to require professionals to report cases of FGM. The consultation sought views on how best to introduce this new duty, including what the sanctions should be for failure to report. The consultation closed on 12 January and we are carefully considering the responses. We will announce the results of the consultation shortly.

Police Knowledge Fund

Baroness Harris of Richmond: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have any plans to include the training of police officers within the Police Knowledge Fund.

Lord Bates: The £10 million Police Knowledge Fund is intended to incentivise collaborations between police forces and academic institutions to help establish and drive a sustainable and recognised body of knowledge, evidence and expertise on policing and cutting crime. Professionalising the police is a cornerstone of the Government’s policing reforms and the College of Policing expects the Knowledge Fund to help embed evidence-based problem solving approaches within forces and build sustained capability amongst officers and staff to understand and use research.Bids will be submitted jointly by police forces and academic institutions against a set of criteria agreed with the College of Policing and the Higher Education Funding Council for England. We are expecting a wide range of collaborative bids that cover many aspects of policing activity.

Department for International Development

Sudan and South Sudan

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty’s Government when officials from the Department for International Development, the European Union or United Nations agencies last had access to conflict areas of South Kordofan, Blue Nile and Darfur; how many displaced people are estimated to be located in Blue Nile and the Nuba Mountains; and how many refugees and people displaced by conflict in the Republic of Sudan and South Sudan are estimated to be in camps inside and outside these countries.

Baroness Northover: United Nations agencies operate in all five states of Darfur and Government held areas of Blue Nile and South Kordofan. DFID and ECHO travel regularly to these states (with the exception of South Kordofan) to monitor programmes. The Government routinely denies humanitarian access to areas of active conflict where needs are often greatest. Humanitarian access from Sudan to opposition held areas of Blue Nile and South Kordofan has been blocked by the Government since 2012.   The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates that there are 3.1 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Sudan, 1,470,000 of these live in IDP camps in Darfur. There are 540,000 IDPs in the Blue Nile and Nuba Mountains, with a fifth of these living in non-government controlled areas. There are an estimated 625,000 Sudanese refugees in neighbouring countries. In South Sudan, there are around 1.5 million IDPs and 500,000 South Sudanese refugees in neighbouring countries, including 120,000 in Sudan

Sudan

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many children living in Sudanese internally displaced persons (IDP) camps are estimated to be receiving education; how many schools are known to be occupied by armed militias or IDPs; what reports they have received of forced marriage, rape, and gender-based violence in camps such as Maban refugee camp; what access women in those camps have to medical services and psychosocial support; and how many pregnant women are estimated by the United Nations Population Fund to be in need of urgent care, and to be at risk of dying because of complications, respectively.

Baroness Northover: According to OCHA, less than 60 per cent of children in almost two thirds of localities in Darfur have access to basic education. Over half of all primary school aged girls in West Darfur and 45 per cent in South Darfur do not attend school. In Sudan, the UK supports education projects through the Common Humanitarian Fund. In 2013-14, CHF funded projects reached 223,000 people across Sudan, the majority of which were children in conflict affected areas of Darfur, South Kordofan and Blue Nile.   Recent insecurity and displacement in both Sudan and South Sudan have led to a further increase in women’s vulnerability and risk of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) although there is a poor reporting of incidents. In Maban refugee camp in South Sudan, there were 316 SGBV incidents reported in 2014. Domestic violence remains the most widespread type of incident in the camp, accounting for 59% of all reported cases, followed by forced marriage (11%), rape (9%) and attempted rape (5%). Women in Maban refugee camp access SGBV prevention and response services including counselling, case management and psychosocial support. The UK supports the provision of these services through the UNHCR.   UNFPA estimates that around 44,211 women in IDP camps in Darfur are pregnant and in need of safe motherhood services. An estimated 6,632 pregnant women are expected to develop a potentially life-threatening complication during pregnancy or at the time of delivery, and may require a Caesarean section.

Sudan and South Sudan

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many (1) cases, and (2) deaths, in Sudanese refugee camps have been reported by the World Health Organisation of (a) cholera, (b) malaria, (c) malnutrition, and (d) diarrhoeal diseases; how many people have been killed by violence since December 2013 in Sudan and South Sudan; how many people living in areas of conflict in Sudan and South Sudan are projected to be in crisis or emergency phases of food insecurity; how many are estimated to be in urgent need of humanitarian assistance; and what percentage of internally displaced persons are estimated to live in flood-prone areas.

Baroness Northover: There is no official figure for how many people have been killed by violence in Sudan and South Sudan. In South Sudan, the International Crisis Group (ICG), estimates that at least 50,000 people have been killed since conflict broke out in December 2013.   The UN currently estimates that 5.4 million people need humanitarian assistance in Sudan in 2015. In South Sudan it is projected that 2.5 million conflict affected people will be in crisis or emergency phases of food insecurity during January to March 2015. In Sudan, 871,160 IDPs live in flood-prone areas, constituting 28% of the total IDP population.

Department for Education

Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education

Lord Northbourne: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the attention paid by maintained secondary schools in England to building in all their pupils the confidence to succeed, qualities of character, and the interpersonal skills they will need as they move into adult life.

Lord Nash: The Government is committed to ensuring that all young people develop a range of character attributes, such as resilience and grit, which underpin success in education and employment. This is essential to ensuring all young people are prepared for life in modern Britain.   We recognise that character is already being encouraged and developed alongside academic excellence through a variety of programmes in and outside schools and colleges across the country. We want to build on that success, better understand what works, identify and share good practice and encourage all schools to ensure their pupils leave with the best chance of future success.   We are investing up to £3.5 million in grant funding to develop new, innovative approaches and enable successful initiatives to expand. We have made £1 million available to the Education Endowment Foundation to increase research into the most effective ways of integrating character development into education and have launched the Character Awards to recognise excellence.

Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education

Lord Northbourne: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have any plans to make available to maintained secondary schools in England the resources, particularly the facilities and teacher training, to develop in their pupils the self confidence, character capabilities, and personal and interpersonal skills they will need as they move into adult life.

Lord Nash: The Government wants to support schools and teachers to ensure their pupils leave with the skills and character attributes needed to succeed in education and employment, and to ensure they are prepared for life in modern Britain. We know that many schools already help build character in a number of ways, so we have launched a national awards scheme to recognise and share existing excellence in this area. The Department for Education has also offered up to £3.5 million in grant funding to develop new, innovative approaches and enable successful initiatives to expand. We have made £1 million available to the Education Endowment Foundation to increase research into the most effective ways of integrating character development into education. We have also launched the Character Awards[1] to recognise and share good practice.  [1] www.gov.uk/government/news/dfe-character-awards-application-window-now-open

Faith Schools

Baroness Eaton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the proposed closure of Durham Free School, how they ensure that Ofsted complies strictly with all the provisions of the new Independent School Standards designed to combat extremism and in respect of the application of its equality and diversity provisions to the assessment of Christian and Jewish schools.

Lord Nash: Ofsted is an independent body, accountable directly to Parliament. It reports twice a year to the Education Select Committee. It is for Ofsted to decide on how inspections are conducted. The framework for inspection is published by Ofsted reflecting Government policy and statutory requirements and sets out how inspections are to be conducted and what will be inspected. Academies and maintained schools are all inspected against the same framework. Independent schools which do not receive public funding are inspected against a different framework which reflects the different statutory requirement placed upon those schools in the independent school standards.

Teachers

Lord Storey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they have taken to encourage highly-qualified teachers to relocate to rural, coastal and more disadvantaged areas.

Lord Nash: The Government is taking action in a number of different ways. The pay reforms that we have introduced since September 2013 give schools greater autonomy and more freedom to decide how much they pay teachers and how quickly pay progresses. Schools may also choose to use their pupil premium funding to attract or retain the best teachers. This increased flexibility gives schools in disadvantaged areas more scope to attract and recruit the high-quality teachers that they need to deliver outstanding education in the most challenging circumstances.   We are also increasing the number of high-achieving graduates teaching in disadvantaged schools by supporting the geographical expansion of Teach First into every region of England. This gives Teach First the scope to reach 90% of eligible schools by 2016, boosting the Government’s commitment to recruit more top teachers across England, including in more rural, coastal and disadvantaged areas.  Over the next two years the Government-funded Talented Leaders programme aims to match up 100 of the nation’s best school leaders with challenging schools in areas of the country that will benefit the most – predominantly in rural, coastal or deprived areas that are finding it difficult to attract great leaders. The School Direct programme also addresses local shortages by enabling schools to attract, train and develop the high-quality teachers and potential leaders that will drive school improvement.

Ministry of Justice

Public Sector: Equality

Lord Maginnis of Drumglass: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, as a consequence of the Lord Chancellor’s disciplinary ruling in the case of Richard Page JP, they will indicate how they intend to ensure that those in public office find no hindrance in expressing, promoting or practising Christian morals and principles as a result of the Government's equality policies.

Lord Faulks: Her Majesty’s Government’s firm view is that Christianity is a very important part of our society and national culture. The Lord Chancellor is himself a strong defender of Christian freedom of expression, and is categorical that a judicial office holder would never be, and has not been, disciplined solely on the basis of their religious views. The disciplinary ruling in the case of Richard Page JP reflected the long-standing principle that cases before any court in the land are decided wholly on their facts, not on personal beliefs. This essential tenet for any fair and impartial justice system, and the oath magistrates take upon appointment has been in place since 1868 for that very reason. This Government has actively promoted the great Christian heritage of this country and believes that Christianity plays a vital role in our national life and that faith inspires people to become involved in public service including providing help to those in need.

The Lord Chairman of Committees

House of Lords: Work Experience

Lord Storey: To ask the Chairman of Committees how many internships are offered by the House of Lords Administration.

Lord Sewel: An error has been identified in the written answer given on 21 January 2015.The correct answer should have been:

The House of Lords Administration offers three internships: one in the Committee Office and two in the library. These posts are salaried. In addition, the Administration offers an apprenticeship in the library and up to 24 work experience placements for school students.The House of Lords Administration does not offer any internships. The three posts erroneously identified as internships are Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST) fellowships usually for PhD students, funded by the UK Research Councils, learned societies and charities. Further details of that scheme are available from the Parliamentary website: http://www.parliament.uk/mps-lords-and-offices/offices/bicameral/post/fellowships/

Lord Sewel: The House of Lords Administration offers three internships: one in the Committee Office and two in the library. These posts are salaried. In addition, the Administration offers an apprenticeship in the library and up to 24 work experience placements for school students.The House of Lords Administration does not offer any internships. The three posts erroneously identified as internships are Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST) fellowships usually for PhD students, funded by the UK Research Councils, learned societies and charities. Further details of that scheme are available from the Parliamentary website: http://www.parliament.uk/mps-lords-and-offices/offices/bicameral/post/fellowships/

Parliament: Computer Software

Lord McAvoy: To ask the Chairman of Committees how much it cost to procure the latest Microsoft Outlook system for use in Parliament; whether the system is working to specification; and what is being done about any problems encountered so far.

Lord Sewel: The latest version of Outlook was included in Parliament’s rollout of Microsoft Office 365 during 2014 as part of the Improved Access to Services (IATS) project. IATS also delivered other new services but the costs of that project identifiable as directly related to Microsoft Outlook were £355,667 in 2013-14 and £158,802 in 2014-15 (including VAT).In addition, Parliament provides each user with Microsoft Windows and its associated Office 365 software at a cost of £98.75 (not including VAT) per user per year.The service has been deployed to over 7,000 users on the Parliamentary network and the overall system is working to specification. A number of users have reported some issues. In particular they have raised concerns about the design of the new Outlook interface and some have reported problems with passwords needing to be re-entered. Both of these issues have been raised with Microsoft.If any Member is experiencing difficulties then Parliamentary ICT (PICT) is ready to offer assistance.

Department for Communities and Local Government

Holiday Accommodation: Greater London

Baroness Gardner of Parkes: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Wallace of Saltaire on 20 January (HL4045), when the detailed policy position on short-term lettings in London will be provided to Members; and how they will consult Members and the full range of stakeholders on its contents.

Baroness Gardner of Parkes: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon’s response to Lord McKenzie of Luton on 7 January (HL Deb, col 339), when they will publish the results of the consultation on the review of property conditions in the private rented sector; and whether they will ensure that these results are published before the Report Stage of the Deregulation Bill.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: We have already undertaken a policy consultation and we have been carefully considering the responses on how best to frame our proposed deregulatory reforms.We intend to publish our proposed policy response on the issue of short-term lettings in London prior to the Report Stage of the Deregulation Bill, including our conclusions from that part of the broader consultation on conditions in the private rented sector. We will also write to interested peers and flag in a Written Statement to both Houses to help facilitate scrutiny by Parliament.

Community Relations

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the existing policies of European Union states to promote the integration as citizens of all members of immigrant communities, across ethnic and religious boundaries; and whether they consider any such policies to be relevant to the United Kingdom.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The Government participates in exchanges of good practice on integration with other EU Member States at meetings of the EU network of National Contact Points on Integration. In relation to our domestic policies on integration, I refer the Noble Lord to the Written Ministerial Statement on Integration by my Rt Hon Friend the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government on 18 December 2014, Official Report, column 110WS.

Sleeping Rough

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 21 January (HL4174), what assessment they have made of the rates of referrals by Street-Link leading to the accessing of services and to re-housing; and what plans they have to increase those rates.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: Homeless Link, who run StreetLink in partnership with St Mungos Broadway, provide regular updates on how the service is performing. Homeless Link work with local authorities and homelessness organisations to continue to improve the take-up of StreetLink nationally and the help it provides to enable rough sleepers to get back on their feet. Since it started in December 2012 Streetlink has made just under 23,000 rough sleeping referrals to councils to investigate, leading to 9,800 rough sleepers being found and connected with local services of which nearly 1,900 resulted in a specific housing outcome. The Government have increased spending to prevent and tackle rough sleeping and homelessness making over £500 million available, giving councils the funding and tools needed to take action against rough sleeping locally.

Social Rented Housing: Greater London

Baroness King of Bow: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much funding has been allocated to each London borough under the Decent Homes Backlog Funding initiative for 2015–16.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The Government has made available £145 million for London in 2015/16 for the Decent Homes Backlog Fund.This funding has been devolved to the Greater London Authority, which has strategic responsibility for housing in London.The Greater London Authority recently announced which boroughs have been awarded the funding. Their amounts are set out in the table below.Barking and Dagenham£1,124,508Camden£26,299,627Hackney£3,159,962Haringey£11,270,130Kingston upon Thames£6,347,627Lambeth£23,283,562Southwark£53,035,851Sutton£7,202,328Tower Hamlets£13,270,443TOTAL£144,944,038All boroughs will need to have their grant claims independently verified. Service charges for leaseholders will be capped to £15,000 over five years for any work carried out using this funding.

Social Rented Housing: Standards

Baroness King of Bow: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to extend the Decent Homes Backlog Funding initiative beyond 2015–16.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: Spending decisions for 2016-17 onwards are a matter for the next Spending Review. £1.6 billion worth of funding was awarded to local authorities to tackle their Decent Homes backlog in 2011-15. A further £165 million was awarded for year 2015-16. Since the abolition of the Housing Revenue Account subsidy system in April 2012, councils have greater freedoms including the retention of their full rental income. This means that all 167 council landlords in England have a long term, stable source of funding, which they can use to plan better to meet the needs of their tenants and local area. These councils have, on average, 15% more to spend on managing and maintaining their homes, including meeting the Decent Homes Standard, than under the previous system.

Temporary Accommodation

Baroness King of Bow: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 6 January (HL3874), whether they intend to commission research into the causes of homeless households being placed in temporary accommodation outside their home authority.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: This Government has made it clear that no council should be sending tenants en masse to a different part of the country. We have strengthened the law so that when considering the suitability of location, housing authorities must now take account of the impact a change in location would have on individual households – including possible disruption to things like employment and schooling.This Government has made more than £1 billion available over this spending round to prevent and tackle homelessness and support vulnerable households affected by welfare reform.London Boroughs account for 93% of households provided with temporary accommodation in another district. London councils have previously said that the vast majority of out of borough placements are within London, or where that is not the case, are local to the placing Borough.In that context, we have no current plans to commission research.

Travellers: Caravan Sites

Lord Avebury: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will provide an assurance that the proposed garden cities will feature appropriate accommodation for caravan-dwelling Travellers.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: There are no special planning provisions for locally-led garden cities. National planning policy requires local authorities to plan for the needs of their traveller communities in the same way as they are required to plan for the settled community.

HM Treasury

Wealth

Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the calls for urgent action on rising global inequality made by Oxfam and others.

Lord Deighton: Income inequality is now lower than when this Government came into office. Domestically we have invested heavily in HMRC to ensure that the wealthy pay the tax which they owe. Overall, the richest will pay more in tax this Parliament than under the previous Government’s plans and last year the top 1% of income taxpayers paid over 28% of income tax revenue, a higher proportion than at any time under the previous Government.   Internationally, we have led efforts through the G20 and OECD to reform the international tax rules to tackle the issue of multinationals artificially shifting their profits to avoid paying tax. And since 2013, we have been the first G7 country to meet the UN commitment to spending 0.7% of GNI on development aid.

Holiday Accommodation: Greater London

Baroness Gardner of Parkes: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon’s response to the Earl of Lytton on 7 January (HL Deb, col 338), whether homeowners will be liable for tax on short-term lettings in London.

Lord Deighton: Individual homeowners receiving rental income from letting their property (whether short-term or long-term) will be chargeable to income tax on the profits from that letting. The exception is where they are renting furnished accommodation in their only or main home, in which case the Rent-a-Room scheme allows them to receive tax-free rental income of up to £4,250 per year.

Department for Energy and Climate Change

Yukos

Baroness Falkner of Margravine: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the Permanent Court of Arbitration's $50 billion ruling in July 2014 in favour of GML Ltd, the former majority shareholders of Yukos, against Russia.

Baroness Verma: This is a commercial dispute in which the UK Government has no involvement. It is not for us to comment.

Cabinet Office

Electoral Register

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Wallace of Saltaire on 16 January (HL3945), whether Electoral Registration Officers' (EROs) engagement plans to maximise registration levels in their local areas, including among young people, are publicly accessible; if so, where they may be accessed; when EROs will receive their allocations of £6.8 million of funding to support their work in driving up registration rates among under-registered groups; whether any such funding is allocated for work in increasing registration rates among young people; and what (1) measures, and (2) standards, the Electoral Commission employs to monitor the performance of EROs in implementing engagement plans to register attainers, students and other young people.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: All allocations to Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) in England and Wales have now been paid. In Scotland, where the process differs, EROs have been invited to submit an invoice totaling the sum of their allocation. EROs are best placed to determine the type of activity that will be most effective in maximising registration levels in their local area. This could include activity focused on increasing registration rates among young people. The Commission continues to monitor ERO progress in this area and to work with ERO’s to help ensure their registers are as accurate and complete as possible by the time of the May 2015 elections To support EROs in planning for and delivering the transition to Individual Electoral Registration, the Electoral Commission established a new framework of performance standards. This includes the requirement for EROs to have appropriate public engagement strategies in place which are regularly reviewed to ensure they remain suitable to meet local challenges.

Department for Culture Media and Sport

Sports: Culture

Lord Pendry: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what initiatives are in place to support the findings by the Culture and Major Events Consortium and to work with organisers to provide more cultural content when staging major sporting events.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble: Major sporting events can act as a catalyst for successful cultural activity. The Cultural Olympiad which ran alongside the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games had huge public engagement, with participants, volunteers and audiences estimated at 43.4m. Since the Cultural Olympiad, the Arts Council England (ACE) has funded the Yorkshire Festival and the Cycle of Songs in Cambridge which ran alongside the 2014 Tour de France Grand Départ, as well as a dance programme which ran alongside the Rugby League World Cup 2013. ACE will continue to support cultural opportunities at major sporting events, including at this year's Rugby World Cup.

Broadband: Wales

Lord Wigley: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many premises or households in Wales benefit from superfast broadband; and what was the figure 12 months previously.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble: According to Ofcom's UK Infrastructure Report published in December 2014, superfast broadband was available to 55% of premises in Wales. There are no comparable figures available for superfast broadband availability in 2013, but according to Ofcom’s 2013 UK Infrastructure Report, 48% of the premises in Wales had access to Next Generation Access networks.

Satellite Broadcasting

Lord Storey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer on 27 January by Lord Gardiner of Kimble (HL4359), whether the introduction of retransmission fees could be beneficial to the creative industry if money generated from retransmission fees was used in original United Kingdom programming.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble: Currently public services broadcasters are not able to charge cable operators for the retransmission of their PSB services. This is an area where many competing interests – particularly those of broadcasters, platforms, and of viewers - must be balanced. Government is going to consult on whether the time is right to remove section 73 of the Copyright, Design and Patents Act, and whether this allows PSBs to invest more in high-quality content. But rather than doing so in isolation, we will be looking at this in the wider context, examining the framework of regulation that governs the balance of payments between broadcasters and platforms and rates surrounding EPG prominence.

Department of Health

Speech Therapy

Lord Quirk: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the report commissioned by the Department of Health and Health Education England and published in December 2014 by the Centre for Workforce Intelligence, Securing the future workforce supply: Speech and language therapy stocktake, and in particular of its reference to "a high level of current unmet needs for speech and language therapy, particularly for adolescents".

Earl Howe: The Department established Health Education England (HEE) with a clear duty to ensure an effective system is in place for education and training in the National Health Service and public health system and that our future workforce has the right numbers, skills, values and behaviours to meet patients’ needs today and tomorrow, taking account of all the available evidence.   The Centre for Workforce Intelligence (CfWI) was commissioned to undertake a stocktake of the speech and language therapy (SLT) workforce in England that investigates the current balance of demand and supply for SLTs and explores how this is expected to change by 2025. The scope included all SLTs, including those working in the public and private sector.   HEE plans to commission 668 Speech and Language therapist training in 2015-16, an increase of 3.7% over 2014-15. HEE will take the content of the CfWI SLT stocktake into account in their workforce planning and future commissioning decisions.

Nurses: Training

Lord Bradley: To ask Her Majesty’s Government which universities provide undergraduate courses for the training of nurses for people with learning disabilities; and how many places are provided each year on each of those courses.

Earl Howe: Health Education England (HEE) does not hold information around which universities provide learning disability courses at a national level. Learning disability courses are commissioned locally by the 13 Local Education Training Boards (LETBs) through universities within their geographical area. At a national level HEE only holds total commissions for learning disabilities nursing.   In December 2014, HEE published its Workforce Plan for England which includes its planned Education & Training Commissions for 2015-16.   Within learning disabilities nursing they will increase commissions from 653 in 2014-15 to 664 in 2015-16. This represents an increase of 1.7%.

Pneumococcal Disease: Vaccination

Baroness Greengross: To ask Her Majesty’s Government when the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation pneumococcal sub-committee plans to complete its review of pneumococcal disease immunisation.

Earl Howe: The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation concluded a review of the adult pneumococcal vaccination programme in 2012. The Committee started a new review at its meeting on 28 January, taking into account the latest information on the epidemiology, cost-effectiveness and impact of adult pneumococcal vaccination. It is anticipated that the review will take six months to complete, subject to the availability of the necessary evidence.

Pneumococcal Disease: Vaccination

Baroness Greengross: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, following completion of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) pneumococcal sub-committee's review of pneumococcal disease and the main JCVI meeting of June 2015, they will implement any recommendations made by the JCVI on the pneumococcal disease immunisation programme from winter 2015–16.

Earl Howe: The Secretary of State has not requested a recommendation about immunisation against pneumococcal disease from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) under the terms of the Health Protection (Vaccination) Regulations 2009.   We will consider carefully any advice received from the JCVI about immunisation against pneumococcal disease in due course.

Vaccination

Baroness Greengross: To ask Her Majesty’s Government which recommendations made by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) have been implemented by the Secretary of State for Health since May 2010; and in each case, on what date the recommendation was made and on what date it was implemented.

Earl Howe: The information requested is shown in the following table.   Recommendation from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and ImmunisationDate of recommendationDate of implementationThe use of rotavirus vaccine in the routine infant immunisation programme, if vaccine prices were much less than those at which they are currently being offered, so that such an immunisation programme is cost-effective.February 2009July 2013The use of herpes zoster (shingles) vaccine vaccination programme for adults aged 70 years up to and including 79 years provided that a vaccine is available at a cost effective price.March 2010 (full statement)September 20131The use of the Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) prophylactic medicine Palivizumab to prevent serious RSV disease in at risk pre-term infants.October 2010October 20102The annual influenza vaccination programme be extended to include children aged 2 to under 17 years of age.July 2012September 20133   Notes This programme is being phased in with 71-79 year-olds being offered shingles vaccines on a “catch-up” basis alongside the routine cohort of 70 year-olds. In 2013, vaccine was offered to 70 and 79 year-olds.   This programme is to protect at-risk pre-term infants for whom RSV infection is likely to cause serious illness or death. It is not managed centrally but commissioned through specialised commissioning. Guidance was provided to the National Health Service in “Immunisation against Infectious Disease” following this recommendation in 2010.   The extension programme for children will be phased in over a number of years. This extension began in 2013-14 with all two and three year-olds being offered vaccination through general practitioner surgeries, and 5-11 year old children in seven areas being offered vaccination through pilot programmes.

Pneumococcal Disease: Vaccination

Baroness Greengross: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what referrals concerning pneumococcal disease the Secretary of State for Health has made to the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation in the last five years; and on what dates those were made.

Earl Howe: The Secretary of State has not requested a recommendation about immunisation against pneumococcal disease from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) under the terms of the Health Protection (Vaccination) Regulations 2009 in the last five years.   Departmental officials requested advice from the JCVI in early 2014 about the use of pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV). At its meeting on 4 June 2014, the minutes of which are available on GOV.UK, the JCVI concluded that PCV13 should remain the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine of choice for infants in the United Kingdom at this time. We have accepted this advice.

Autism

Lord Bradley: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to improve the identification and assessment of (1) children, and (2) adults, with autism.

Earl Howe: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence clinical guideline, Recognition, referral and diagnosis of children and young people on the autism spectrum aims to improve the diagnosis, and experience of children, young people and those who care for them. It recommends the establishment of multidisciplinary autism teams in local areas. Health Education England has developed the online MindED portal, which contains learning resources for enhancing the effectiveness of working with children, young people, and young adults who are on the autistic spectrum.   The draft statutory guidance on implementing the updated Adult Autism Strategy sets out the Government’s intention to require health bodies to develop adult autism diagnostic pathways. NHS England is planning to use their local audit teams to provide assurance that the diagnostic process is suitable.

Death Certificates

Lord Pendry: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what timely steps are being taken to address reforms to the death certification system following the Shipman Inquiry and recommendations made by Dame Janet Smith.

Earl Howe: The Government is committed to improving the system of death certification in England and Wales. In taking forward work on any changes, the Department will be considering lessons learnt from the medical examiner pilot projects and working with NHS England, the NHS Litigation Authority, Monitor and the Care Quality Commission to see how best medical examiners fit with the system-wide approach to patient safety. These considerations will be completed in time to advise the incoming government.

Defibrillators

Lord Storey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have plans to agree on a universally accepted sign for the location of defibrillators in public areas.

Earl Howe: There are no current plans for a universally accepted sign for the location of defibrillators in public areas. However, NHS England is considering all avenues to increase the uptake of bystander resuscitation, including the use and location of defibrillators.

In Vitro Fertilisation

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether Regulation 18 of the Draft Human Fertilisation and Embryology (Mitochondrial Donation) Regulations 2015 is intended to imply either that a permitted egg is not a gamete or that an egg donor may not legally be considered to be a person; and what considerations they have given to the logical ramifications of their intended classificatory exceptions.

Earl Howe: That is not the intention of regulation 18 of The Draft Human Fertilisation and Embryology (Mitochondrial Donation) Regulations 2015.

Gastrointestinal Cancer: Drugs

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask Her Majesty’s Government why the Cancer Drugs Fund has classified gastrointestinal stromal tumours as a normal cancer rather than a rare cancer in relation to its appraisal of regorafenib.

Earl Howe: The Cancer Drugs Fund has not classed gastrointestinal stromal tumours as a normal cancer and recognises it as a rare cancer. However, it does not recognise regorafenib as a drug that treats rare cancers alone as it has a European licence for bowel cancer.

Cancer: Drugs

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many drug companies agreed to make appropriate adjustment to their prices to allow their drugs to stay in the Cancer Drugs Fund.

Earl Howe: A number of companies made an adjustment, but the precise number is considered to be commercially confidential.

Liver Diseases

Lord Avebury: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to improve care and treatment for patients with hepatic encephalopathy.

Lord Avebury: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have plans to work with NHS England to ensure that a clinical audit is carried out into services for people with advanced liver disease from all causes.

Earl Howe: NHS England, Public Health England (PHE) and the Department of Health are working jointly with stakeholders to make sure that patients with liver disease, including those who may develop hepatic encephalopathy, are supported. PHE is also working with stakeholders to develop a liver disease framework.   There are currently no plans to carry out a clinical audit into services for people with advanced liver disease for all causes. However, liver cancer outcomes for the specialised services which NHS England commissions are currently audited and a national audit of outcome dimensions for the treatment of hepatitis C will be established by NHS England in due course. In addition, PHE is working with the Lancet Commission on Liver Disease to use routine data to investigate elements of care for people with advanced liver disease.   We are also taking action to prevent people developing liver disease in the first place by tackling two of the main causes of liver disease – obesity and alcohol misuse. This includes:   - our Call to Action on Obesity, which sets out two national ambitions for a downward trend in level of excess weight in children and adults by 2020; and   - our Alcohol Strategy, which aims to cut the number of people drinking above the lower-risk guidelines.

General Practitioners

Lord Mawson: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many single-handed general practitioner practices are operating in (1) England, and (2) London.

Lord Mawson: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to bring to an end single-handed general practitioner practices in (1) England, and (2) London; and to what timescales they are working.

Earl Howe: The latest figures, published by the Health and Social Care Information Centre in September 2013, show that there are 891 single-handed general practitioner (GP) practices in England, representing 11.2% of the total number of GP practices in England.   There are 1,445 GP practices in London, of which 238 are single-handed GP practices, representing 16.5% of the GP practices in London.   NHS England is responsible for commissioning primary care services and has advised that there are no plans to close existing small or single-handed practices. The aim is to look at how primary care services can continue to be developed to offer patients better access and more choice.